Bingham Offers Associate Buyouts

Bingham McCutchen is paying buyouts to several associates at its San Francisco office,reportedly in response to a slowdown in commercial litigation.

Four associates left the firm and three others transferred to part-time, contract attorney status, the Recorder reports.

The move comes as the Boston-based firm raised associate pay to $160,000 at all its offices. The firm would not disclose the amount paid to departing associates.

Anthony Carbone, chair of the firm’s committee on associates, told the legal newspaper that the departing associates were not forced to leave and described the moves as “mutually agreeable transitions.”